The landscape of this home honors the formality of Spanish Colonial / Santa Barbara Style early homes in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix. By re-grading the lot and allowing for terraced opportunities, we featured a variety of hardscape stone, brick, and decorative tiles that reinforce the eclectic Spanish Colonial feel. Cantera and La Negra volcanic stone, brick, natural field stone, and handcrafted Spanish decorative tiles are used to establish interest throughout the property. A front courtyard patio includes a hand painted tile fountain and sitting area near the outdoor fire place. This patio features formal Boxwood hedges, Hibiscus, and a rose garden set in pea gravel. The living room of the home opens to an outdoor living area which is raised three feet above the pool. This allowed for opportunity to feature handcrafted Spanish tiles and raised planters. The side courtyard, with stepping stones and Dichondra grass, surrounds a focal Crape Myrtle tree. One focal point of the back patio is a 24-foot hand-hammered wrought iron trellis, anchored with a stone wall water feature. We added a pizza oven and barbecue, bistro lights, and hanging flower baskets to complete the intimate outdoor dining space. Project Details: Landscape Architect: Greey|Pickett Architect: Higgins Architects Landscape Contractor: Premier Environments Photography: Sam Rosenbaum

Photo by George Dzahristos
This is an example of a traditional full sun stone garden path in Detroit.

It started with vision. Then arrived fresh sight, seeing what was absent, seeing what was possible. Followed quickly by desire and creativity and know-how and communication and collaboration. When the Ramsowers first called Exterior Worlds, all they had in mind was an outdoor fountain. About working with the Ramsowers, Jeff Halper, owner of Exterior Worlds says, “The Ramsowers had great vision. While they didn’t know exactly what they wanted, they did push us to create something special for them. I get inspired by my clients who are engaged and focused on design like they were. When you get that kind of inspiration and dialogue, you end up with a project like this one.” For Exterior Worlds, our design process addressed two main features of the original space—the blank surface of the yard surrounded by looming architecture and plain fencing. With the yard, we dug out the center of it to create a one-foot drop in elevation in which to build a sunken pool. At one end, we installed a spa, lining it with a contrasting darker blue glass tile. Pedestals topped with urns anchor the pool and provide a place for spot color. Jets of water emerge from these pedestals. This moving water becomes a shield to block out urban noises and makes the scene lively. (And the children think it’s great fun to play in them.) On the side of the pool, another fountain, an illuminated basin built of limestone, brick and stainless steel, feeds the pool through three slots. The pool is counterbalanced by a large plot of grass. What is inventive about this grassy area is its sub-structure. Before putting down the grass, we installed a French drain using grid pavers that pulls water away, an action that keeps the soil from compacting and the grass from suffocating. The entire sunken area is finished off with a border of ground cover that transitions the eye to the limestone walkway and the retaining wall, where we used the same reclaimed bricks found in architectural features of the house. In the outer border along the fence line, we planted small trees that give the space scale and also hide some unsightly utility infrastructure. Boxwood and limestone gravel were embroidered into a parterre design to underscore the formal shape of the pool. Additionally, we planted a rose garden around the illuminated basin and a color garden for seasonal color at the far end of the yard across from the covered terrace. To address the issue of the house’s prominence, we added a pergola to the main wing of the house. The pergola is made of solid aluminum, chosen for its durability, and painted black. The Ramsowers had used reclaimed ornamental iron around their front yard and so we replicated its pattern in the pergola’s design. “In making this design choice and also by using the reclaimed brick in the pool area, we wanted to honor the architecture of the house,” says Halper. We continued the ornamental pattern by building an aluminum arbor and pool security fence along the covered terrace. The arbor’s supports gently curve out and away from the house. It, plus the pergola, extends the structural aspect of the house into the landscape. At the same time, it softens the hard edges of the house and unifies it with the yard. The softening effect is further enhanced by the wisteria vine that will eventually cover both the arbor and the pergola. From a practical standpoint, the pergola and arbor provide shade, especially when the vine becomes mature, a definite plus for the west-facing main house. This newly-created space is an updated vision for a traditional garden that combines classic lines with the modern sensibility of innovative materials. The family is able to sit in the house or on the covered terrace and look out over the landscaping. To enjoy its pleasing form and practical function. To appreciate its cool, soothing palette, the blues of the water flowing into the greens of the garden with a judicious use of color. And accept its invitation to step out, step down, jump in, enjoy.

View of the rear of the garden including lawn panels, bluestone paved pool deck, low brick garden wall, spa, outdoor shower, built-in fire pit, and antique teak gazebo.

In the renovation and addition to this home in Falls Church VA, exterior hard-scapes and garden spaces surround the house while the spaces within the home are made larger and are opened up to the forestall views surrounding the home. When walking on the pathway one crosses the many thresholds along the exterior that help to separate and create new intimate garden spaces. Steel, concrete, and wood come together in this intricate walkway system comprised of slatted screen fences, a guiding pergola overhead, and a hard-scaped pathway. The changes in grade, volume, and materiality allow for a dynamic walkway that runs both to the new entry and continues to the rear patio where it then terminates at the patio access of the home. The master bedroom is extruded out over the lower level into the rear of the house and opened up with tall windows all along two sides. A more formal entry space is added at the front with full height glass bringing in lots of light to make for an elegant entry space. Partitions are removed from the interior to create one large space which integrates the new kitchen, living room , and dining room. Full height glass along the rear of the house opens up the views to the rear and brightens up the entire space. A new garage volume is added and bridged together with the existing home creating a new powder room, mudroom, and storage.

Privacy was created here with extending the brick wall to enclose the entire back yard. It originally only went down one side property line. Because this wall could not be changed by adding masonry, we added the English trellis topper to bring the wall up to the maximum height allowed by the City Of Richmond, VA. The wall fountain is a light weight composite material that looks like limestone. These type of fountains are beautiful and easy to install. All you need is a hidden electrical plug. The stone edge and border add another dimension to the garden and keep it neat and clean. The stair case goes to a second story apartment and storage was added underneath. The patio is a concrete paver that looks like stone in a natural stone color. Nancy Dransfield-Photographer

An English style Georgian home with walled courtyard garden. Photographer: John Howard.
Photo of a traditional backyard stone formal garden in Atlanta.

Home office - contemporary built-in desk home office idea in Salt Lake City

Ryann Ford
Photo of a traditional backyard landscaping in Austin.

Garden Wall with Wrought Iron Gate
Photo of a traditional landscaping in Boston.

A perspective inside the garden (50' x 75'), with newly planted planter boxes and a greenhouse shipped all the way from bonny England!
Inspiration for a farmhouse vegetable garden landscape in Burlington.

The transition to several garden rooms, a gravel path leads from the rear terrace to the many spaces. The entry is flanked by the New England fieldstone seat wall, capped in blue stone. The path is lined with cushwa brick outlining the formal garden filled with boxwood, pachysandra ground cover, hydrangea, magnolia, and eastern redbud. Photo Credit: Linda Oyama Bryan

Backyard transformation from ruins into a safe and attractive terraced garden to tend the flowers and let the kids and dog play in. Designed by Shepard Design Landscape Architects, materials brick and stone.

Inspiration for a timeless patio remodel in DC Metro with no cover

Inspiration for a large farmhouse full sun courtyard brick landscaping in New York.

Kingston™ paving system, Highland Stone® wall system from Anchor Block Company
Inspiration for a timeless backyard brick patio remodel in Minneapolis

Sisson Landscapes
Design ideas for a large traditional full sun courtyard gravel landscaping in DC Metro.

Breaking up the stairs into a series of landings makes it easy to tend to the tiered gardens.
This is an example of a traditional landscaping in Minneapolis.

Photo: Gordon Beall Photography
Elegant entryway photo in DC Metro with red walls and a black front door